macbruce Posted June 1, 2011 Posted June 1, 2011 I'm sure lots of smiths know about these, but for those don't they can really make a difference.......Ever curse having to quench the handle of a bar and losing the ''sweet heat'' before forging or some other maneuver ?............These things can be bought at napa or rigged from a T fitting. The blo gun rig is 1/8'', and the simple ''T'' rig is 1/4'', that one really puts out...........After cooling with water and air in the fire you go right to work...............Oh and don't leave it on the floor .............Your tub will drain.....:P Quote
pkrankow Posted June 1, 2011 Posted June 1, 2011 Venturi siphon? hit the air and you get a mix of water mist and air blast? Is that just a 1/8 inch Tee on the end of a blower nozzle for your compressor, or is it a more specialized part? Phil Quote
macbruce Posted June 1, 2011 Author Posted June 1, 2011 Is that just a 1/8 inch Tee on the end of a blower nozzle for your compressor ? correct.........mb Quote
CurlyGeorge Posted June 2, 2011 Posted June 2, 2011 Cool idea, Bruce. (pun intended) That would work like a champ. Thanks for sharing that with us. Quote
gearhartironwerks Posted June 3, 2011 Posted June 3, 2011 I just spent a couple of hrs b/sing w/Arnon Kartmazov, blade smith extraordinaire, and he has an air/water mister connected to his grinder. Pretty cool idea...no pun intended. Belts last linger and blades get less heat. The learning never ends. John Quote
macbruce Posted February 15, 2012 Author Posted February 15, 2012 As I said in my first post don't leave it on the floor! This is about half the flooded area....25 gal or so........ Also shown is the latest in coolgun tech...... Quote
MattBower Posted February 16, 2012 Posted February 16, 2012 I'm sorry I missed this post before. Very cool idea. It has other potential applications, too! And by the way, that vise in the foreground is the most massive I have ever seen. Awesome! I don't know what I'd do with a vise that size, but I want one! :) Quote
MattBower Posted February 16, 2012 Posted February 16, 2012 Oh, and to second Phil's question, is that just a regular tee fitting? Quote
macbruce Posted February 16, 2012 Author Posted February 16, 2012 I'm sorry I missed this post before. Very cool idea. It has other potential applications, too! And by the way, that vise in the foreground is the most massive I have ever seen. Awesome! I don't know what I'd do with a vise that size, but I want one! I got that 8'' Parker vise in the early 70's from the UPRR, opens 18'' And I don't know what I'd do without it....Great tool. Oh, and to second Phil's question, is that just a regular tee fitting? It's just 1/4'' pipe throughout, that T fitting is a brass one and it works great. I think a common one would do fine. The 1/4'' works better than 1/8'' for these but 1/8 will work, it just doesn't have the nice BIG output the 1/4 has........A couple of things; I tried to extend the output pipe to 6-8'' to get my hand futher from the forge and it won't pull up the water if it's too long, the one in the pic is 4''..... The same is true if you try this on the input end.....????....but that's how it is......I came back from lunch today and the gun had fallen on the floor, when the siphon kicks in it really sucks..... :P Quote
MattBower Posted February 16, 2012 Posted February 16, 2012 Yeah, I suspect if the "nozzle" tube gets too long the air over the siphon tube backs up and slows way down. That'd kill the siphon effect. Any idea what volume of water you're moving with that thing per minute (or hour, or whatever)? Quote
macbruce Posted February 16, 2012 Author Posted February 16, 2012 Yeah, I suspect if the "nozzle" tube gets too long the air over the siphon tube backs up and slows way down. That'd kill the siphon effect. Any idea what volume of water you're moving with that thing per minute (or hour, or whatever)? I couldn't say but it ain't much and that's the beauty of it, the rushing air does as much cooling as the water and there must be ''chill factor'' involved. I've see smiths use a can with holes punched in the bottom to dribble water on the metal and they make a far bigger mess than this setup.... Quote
SmoothBore Posted February 16, 2012 Posted February 16, 2012 "Misters" have been used for decades, to direct small amounts of coolant onto parts, where the Machine Tool lacked a "Coolant Base". Band Saws, Surface Grinders, Milling Machines, Lathes etc. can ALL benefit from this simple, economical coolant delivery system. . Quote
NeatGuy Posted February 19, 2012 Posted February 19, 2012 I have an air curtain on my forge which blows a stream of air strait up the front of the forge. The air blows a lot of the heat up and away for the ends sticking out of the forge. While it does not cool as radically as this mister it is always running. Those misters are also great for heat straightening or heat bending beams, tubes etc.; no water all over the floor. brad Quote
macbruce Posted February 19, 2012 Author Posted February 19, 2012 I have an air curtain on my forge which blows a stream of air strait up the front of the forge. The air blows a lot of the heat up and away for the ends sticking out of the forge. While it does not cool as radically as this mister it is always running. Those misters are also great for heat straightening or heat bending beams, tubes etc.; no water all over the floor. brad The ''curtain'' I used ond my 30'' x 12'' x 12'' dinasaur gas forge was a copper bar with 20-30 little holes that dribbled water down on the metal powered with an aquarium pump. The runoff was caught in a bucket below. I served me well for a long time when I needed to forge multiple bars (the good ol' days) but had drawbacks such as; If the bar got slightly tilted inward water would run inside the forge and or if the bar tilted out, the water would run past the bucket and on the tops of sq or flat bars and wind up on the floor as well. Your misters would be superior to that. Siphon sprayers/curtins are especially useful when doing bronze and straightening/bending. I was working in a large fab shop when I discovered siphon sprayers and guys who knew what they were doing with them could curve/correct even huge beams 200-400 lbs per ft with a torch and sprayer. It was a relevation and one of the best things I learned there...... Google the subject,there's plenty of info.....One other thing I learned there was to keep an eye out for newbies operating the overhead crane....lol Quote
evfreek Posted February 19, 2012 Posted February 19, 2012 I just bought a small spray can, Milwaukee brand, at a garage sale. It is very cute. It has a thumb valve, a spray head, a pipe fitting cap and a schrader valve fill. But, as I was looking it over, it had a label with sad tidings on it. Good to 200 psi, don't use with water based fluids due to corrosion risk. Oh well, it is really cute, and might be useful for something. Quote
macbruce Posted March 6, 2012 Author Posted March 6, 2012 I've come up with some improvements on these things due to a fluke that happened when i tried to replace the leaking turn knob valve (which leaked air constantly) with a ball valve.........I put the niffty new valve BV on and it wouldn't work, it just blew bubbles into the water tank???......Now what the.......Hmm, what's different here? Ok, the exit hole in the brass knob valve is smaller , so I made the 1/4''npt exit hole in the ball smaller by pressing in a pc of 1/8'' pipe into the nipple that is then positioned right in the middle of the T when the threads are seated (kinda like the orifice position in a propane forge burner) and what a difference! It drawes water up when the valve is wide open or open just a little, which really helps at the coke forge cause it doesn't blow coke all over heck. I did this to the 1/8'' rig as well using a 1/4'' piece of brass round drilled out to 3/16.....I had to swadge the 1/8 pipe smaller to get em to fit but it worked..... Quote
Ramsberg Posted March 6, 2012 Posted March 6, 2012 That sure looks like it does the trick! One thing that I have done is to wrap an old towel, cut down to a hand width strip and shortened, then wrap it around the stock between the hot end and the hand end. Soak it a bit before use, wring it out to keep it from dripping all over the place. Then when in use and while heating stock dribble some water on the wraped towel to keep it wet and cool. This technique keeps one from getting water all over the place, just don't wrap your hand around the towel to hold onto the work, it may steam and burn you. My father taught me this technique when I was learning soldering copper tube. If one is soldering close to an already soldered joint, a wraped and wet towel will keep the already soldered joint cool. Caleb Ramsby Quote
Alan Evans Posted March 9, 2012 Posted March 9, 2012 That sure looks like it does the trick! One thing that I have done is to wrap an old towel, cut down to a hand width strip and shortened, then wrap it around the stock between the hot end and the hand end. Soak it a bit before use, wring it out to keep it from dripping all over the place. Then when in use and while heating stock dribble some water on the wraped towel to keep it wet and cool. Caleb Ramsby I use this system as well. I found that hessian sacking was the thing that lasts longest. I wrap it around the stock wet and have a bucket /basin underneath with a dipper. Every time I pass by I keep dipping and pouring...most of the excess drains back into the bucket! When I take the bar out of the furnace I unwrap and drop the sack into the bucket ready for the next one. I always promised myself I would make an air curtain one day, now I am going to have to promise myself to make a blasted tee piece mister one day as well! Quote
Old N Rusty Posted November 21, 2012 Posted November 21, 2012 A mister is so hi tech , I just tie the garden hose to a jackstand and aim a small spray from the twist nozzle on the ends of work in the forge . A very fine spray is all that it needs to keep the ends cool. Quote
macbruce Posted November 23, 2012 Author Posted November 23, 2012 A mister is so hi tech , I just tie the garden hose to a jackstand and aim a small spray from the twist nozzle on the ends of work in the forge . A very fine spray is all that it needs to keep the ends cool. There are advantages to using a mister, one the rush of air with the water vapor cools more quickly than just water. Another is the atomized water for the most part just evaporates and doesn't wind up on the floor.......They are noisy though..... Quote
Old N Rusty Posted November 23, 2012 Posted November 23, 2012 We are constantly re cycling the water spray by arranging the bars in the forge so they channel the run off into a bucket . This bucket refills the slack tanks and fills the cat drinking water . You mentioned the noise, depressed air escaping constantly , irks my ears more than any banging, or grinding. For those smiths that engage in bending or twisting operations with mild steel , do not quench the irons , let them cool by themselves . I have seen mild steel harden enough to break in the scrolling. Quote
macbruce Posted November 23, 2012 Author Posted November 23, 2012 We are constantly re cycling the water spray by arranging the bars in the forge so they channel the run off into a bucket . This bucket refills the slack tanks and fills the cat drinking water . You mentioned the noise, depressed air escaping constantly , irks my ears more than any banging, or grinding. For those smiths that engage in bending or twisting operations with mild steel , do not quench the irons , let them cool by themselves . I have seen mild steel harden enough to break in the scrolling. Here in Colorado there's a dangerous lack of humidity, especially when operating a gas forge.....The added humidity in the shop atmosphere from the noisy, hi tec contraption keeps my sinuses and skin from drying out too severely...... :P ...... There's a valve so it never runs constantly.... Quote
Alan Evans Posted November 23, 2012 Posted November 23, 2012 Here in Colorado there's a dangerous lack of humidity, especially when operating a gas forge Here in England there is a dangerous surfeit of humidity, especially when using a gas forge :) I always understood that for every kilo of propane you burnt you put a kilo of water vapour into the atmosphere.........The added humidity in the shop atmosphere from the noisy, hi tec contraption keeps my sinuses and skin from drying out too severely "because your worth it!" I trust you get the same Jennifer Aniston cosmetic adverts over there.... I realised a few days after I posted about making a mister back in March that I already had one...I had stuck a bit of 10mm (3/8") plastic tube onto the draw pipe of a cheapo sand blaster in order to suck the water out of the hold down bolt tubes of 150kg hammer, works fine as a mister. Was able to lift the water well over a metre. Alan Quote
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